Can we explain the about-turn in US monetary policy in late 2018?
In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Federal Reserve abruptly changed the intended course of its future monetary policy: instead of signalling a normalisation of its interest rates, raising them towards 3.25% to 3.50%, it switched to a policy of interest rate cuts, with an interest rate target of around 1.5% to 1.75%. The financial markets reacted drastically to this change of strategy by the Federal Reserve. Can we explain this drastic about-turn in US monetary policy? It may have been brought about by: A change in the cyclical outlook for the United States; The fact that mortgage interest rates were high in 2018, which led to a downturn in residential construction (building permits and housing starts); The risk of a downturn in share prices, given the extent of the equity wealth effect in the United States .